Letters to the editor for November 17, 2018

Saturday

Nov 17, 2018 at 2:01 AM

Litter not a political issue. Trump and the press.

What rubbish

What rubbish from this writer of the letter “Ocala is run down” (Nov. 15).

Litterbugs have no political affiliation. Also, the population has been expanding, but our GOP commissioners no longer charge developers fees for all the new houses, so there is no extra money for clean-ups. There is little prisoner population ( thank goodness) to do cleanup either.

The GOP runs on no new taxes, but unless individuals want to pay to pave individual roads, the money has to come from taxes. That is the point of government, which is to do the big things — roads, police, sanitation, fire service, etc. — that individuals cannot do.

So to the writer, stop blaming “Northern liberals” for making Ocala unclean. We all have a duty to get rid of our own trash. I see cars with bumper stickers from all political parties throwing crap out of their windows.

Lynn Miller, Ocala

Divided we are

Nothing symbolizes ignorance and division in America like the “move back to where you came from” letters regularly appearing on this page.

One writer, a retiree to Ocala for 18 years, says I need to take my liberal New York self back up North because I’m ruining Ocala. My 38 years working in Ocala trumps his 18 years playing shuffleboard, so I wish him an expeditious and speedy relocation.

Another writer defines the word “nationalism” for us. To exercise those “critical thinking” skills that Republicans declare they possess in such abundance, I suggest the writer also look up “Kristallnacht.”

Another concept that requires clarification is “draining the swamp.” In a political sense, this means to clean up government corruption. Metaphorically, this means draining the swamp to get rid of the mosquitoes, and perhaps the snakes and alligators. It does not mean killing off the frogs, birds and beneficial flora, while dumping in bigger and more dangerous snakes and alligators.

Trump is not cleaning up government corruption in Washington. He has not “drained” anything. His White House is like an episode of the Three Stooges, only more chaotic and dangerous. The world is laughing though.

Finally, look at any economic line chart from 2008 to the present. The only thing Trump has accomplished is to put 10 years of growth at risk, and give tax cuts to the rich, providing Republicans an excuse to trash Social Security and Medicare.

Gary Lasby, Ocala

The press and the people

What are the credentials required to become a member of the White House Press Corps? All you must do is ask a question of the President and write down his answer. I don’t believe you are qualified to debate the President on his answer. If you want to debate the President, you should run for Congress.

As for division in this country, the question the Banner should ask is how many column inches do you devote to “fanning the flames”? Letters to the editor and syndicated columns do a lot of this. You could be part of the problem or part of the solution.

I often hear people ask, “How did President Trump ever get elected?” The answer is simple and has been with us since 1858. “You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.” — Abraham Lincoln. We the people clearly saw that elected representatives and senators were spending all their time gaming the system. Thus, the change.

Fenwick D. McCormick, Ocala

Trump and Acosta

In reply to the writer of the letter “Trump’s attacks on the press,” the author, like the press, is excellent at spinning words.

His letter contained a half-truth: he said Mr. Trump replied arrogantly to “a question about immigration policy.” That is not accurate. Mr. Trump’s reply was to this opinion from Jim Acosta: “Mr. President, I’d like to challenge something you said during the election.” He then went on to state his opinion. President Trump replied, “I see it differently.” At that point Mr. Acosta started to argue with the President, refusing to pass the microphone to another journalist.

Much of the press has forgotten the difference between an opinion and a question.

Ed Hall, Ocala

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